Posted on 04/19/2024 3:32:54 AM PDT by RandFan
While Speaker MIKE JOHNSON has relied on Democrats in the past, what happened in the Rules Committee late last night was different.
Rules is known as “the Speaker’s committee,” a powerful body usually made up of members hand-picked by leadership that serves as gatekeeper to the House floor. But Johnson inherited a Rules Committee stacked with hard-liners, a vestige of the wheeling and dealing it took for KEVIN McCARTHY to win the speakership last year.
Rep. TOM COLE (R-Okla.), the recently departed chairman of Rules, defended the arrangement during a long interview in his office yesterday for this week’s Deep Dive podcast. Placing the far-right troublemakers on the committee, the thinking goes, would allow them to be heard early in the process so that spats get worked out before rules ever reach the floor.
It hasn’t worked out that way: Seven rules have been defeated on the floor in this Congress after passing in committee. What was once the ultimate act of party betrayal in the House became routine in this GOP conference.
On aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, the obstacle was more formidable. Johnson couldn’t even pass the rule governing the package through committee. Last night, Reps. THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.), RALPH NORMAN (R-S.C.) and CHIP ROY (R-Texas) all followed through on their threats to vote against the rule. But it passed anyway, 9-3, when the panel’s four Democrats joined five Republicans to set up a Saturday vote on $95 billion in aid for the three countries just as Ukraine appears to be on the verge of defeat.
Johnson’s coalition with the Democrats will have to hold through three more tests.
One will come today when the rule is before the full House and will require bipartisan support.
The next will come on Saturday when the four component pieces of the aid package are scheduled for votes.
And then the final test of this experiment in bipartisanship will come at some point later when Democrats will be asked to help Johnson thwart a motion-to-vacate resolution.
By that point, Johnson will have relied on Democrats to pass all of the key spending legislation of his tenure, to help him regain control of the Rules Committee, to pass aid to Ukraine over the objections of many GOP members, and to remain in power as speaker.
Kevin McCarthy’s Republican Coalition had more members.
Ping Mariner! You might be interested in the shenanigans they’re not even hiding it now. Dems are in de facto control
I fixed the headline.
Didja get what you wanted by being such a jerk, Rand? MTG? Thomas?
You act like anything would have been different with Kevin McCarthy as the House Speaker. LOL.
This is from that commie rag sheet Politico. They always ignore the hardliners on the Left and only call conservatives hardliners.
To Politico, the milquetoast limp wristed Mike Pence is a hardliner. /spit
Those so called “jerks” have more honesty and love for this country than you have in your little finger.
The people you support, you support because they want to pay for the grift of US taxpayers by the rotten globalists over that craphole Ukraine.
Even the Polish citizens know Ukraine has been sold out to entities like Blackrock and Vanguard. We are literally paying for a war for the interests of greedy globalists.
It would have been different. The rep/rat uni-Party screw job would have passed many months ago with only half the drama.
When he first became speaker he was hold prayer gatherings. Then he started breaking promises hand over fist.
Sure fooled the hicks who clutch their guns, constutions and bibles.
With such a narrow majority?
Very unrealistic.
you’re in coalition with the Democrats. Enjoy it
The trouble is that there are only so many “hicks”.
There are lots of other people besides. Some of those other people have way more $ with which to amplify their vote.
Politics is the art of the possible. Thats where stability is. Politics as a sort of religious crusade often works, for a while, but it makes enemies and inevitably breaks up the coalition as a result of purity contests. The other side of US politics has seen this directly.
I’m something like 90/10 on your side (albeit being a distant fanboy, not a participant). But purity contests are not good politics. It narrows the appeal of the coalition, which is bad gameplay.
Victory comes from amassing friends, not driving them to your enemies.
Also, hot-headedness is bad politics. This is a game for guys willing to put on the green eyeshades.
“ Sure fooled the hicks who clutch their guns, constutions and bibles.”
I side with the “hicks”
“ Didja get what you wanted by being such a jerk, Rand? MTG? Thomas?”
At the very least THEY tried. Nobody else is doing anything to pull our country out of this nosedive. Nobody!
What’s Trump, chopped liver?!?
“ What’s Trump, chopped liver?!?”
You’re right. I should have made it clear that nobody is standing with Trump. Very few anyway.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.